It's been another stellar quarter for the folks over at HTC. According to the company's Q3 earnings report, released today, net income rose to NT$18.68 billion (about $624.6 million) this quarter -- a 68 percent increase over Q3 2010 and a seven percent bump over last quarter, when HTC reported record profits. Revenue, meanwhile, rose by 79 percent on the year to NT$135.8 billion (around $4.54 billion), which the manufacturer attributed to "strong brand recognition, leading product portfolio and expanded distribution channels." On a regional level, HTC saw the strongest growth in China, where sales increased by a factor of nine over the past year. This undoubtedly helped the company boost handset shipments, which increased by a whopping 93 percent over the year, to 13.2 million units. For more details and crunchy numbers, hit up the source links, below.
LONDON ? Church and local government authorities are going to court to evict anti-capitalist protesters camped outside St. Paul's Cathedral ? though officials acknowledged Friday it could take weeks or months to get an order to remove the tent city.
As the iconic church reopened after a weeklong closure triggered by the protest, the City of London Corporation said it was launching legal action on the grounds that the protest is an "unreasonable user of the highway." Scores of tents are pitched on the pedestrianized square in front of the cathedral and near a footpath alongside the building.
"Protest is an essential right in a democracy ? but camping on the highway is not and we believe we will have a strong highways case because an encampment on a busy thoroughfare clearly impacts the rights of others," said Michael Welbank, a member of the corporation's planning and transportation committee.
St. Paul's Cathedral said it agreed that "legal action has regrettably become necessary."
The cathedral's governing body said in a statement that it "takes this step with the greatest reluctance and remains committed to a peaceful solution."
Several hundred protesters against economic inequality and corporate greed have been camped outside the building since Oct. 15, inspired by New York's Occupy Wall Street movement. On Oct. 21 cathedral officials shut the building, saying the campsite represented a health and safety hazard.
It was the first time the 300-year-old church, one of London's best-known buildings, had closed since German planes bombed the city during World War II.
After the campers agreed to rearrange their tents the cathedral reopened Friday with a special Eucharist service attended by hundreds of people, including some of the protesters.
"Today we rejoice that we are once again able to worship in an open cathedral," Dean of St. Paul's Graeme Knowles told worshippers.
The protest has divided managers of the cathedral. Some have called for the protesters to leave, but senior clergyman Giles Fraser resigned Thursday, saying he feared moves to evict the camp could end in violence.
Fraser Dyer, a chaplain at St. Paul's Cathedral, quit his post on Friday, citing the church's decision to instigate legal action against the protesters. "I am left feeling embarrassed by the position the Dean and Chapter have taken," he wrote in a resignation letter posted to his website.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey on Friday also criticized the cathedral's handling of the protest, saying the situation had become a "debacle" that could hurt Christianity's image.
"My paramount concern throughout has been that the reputation of Christianity is being damaged by the episode, and, more widely, that the possibility of fruitful and peaceful protest has been brought into disrepute," Carey wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Prime Minister David Cameron Friday called for the stalemate to be resolved. He said he supported the right to protest, but this did not include "the freedom to pitch a tent almost anywhere you want to in London."
"I have a feeling that if you or I decided to pitch a tent in the middle of Oxford Street we'd be moved on very quickly," Cameron told reporters at a Commonwealth summit in Perth, Australia. "It's vitally important places like St. Paul's Cathedral are open to the public."
Getting a court order to evict the protesters could be a lengthy process, complicated by the tangled ownership of this medieval patch of London, which has been the site of a cathedral dedicated to St. Paul for 1,400 years. Christopher Wren's domed landmark was built to replace an earlier building destroyed in the Great Fire of London and became a symbol of the city's endurance after it survived the World War II Blitz.
Conservative legislator Mark Field, who represents the district in Parliament, welcomed the legal action, saying the area in front of the world-famous building had become "like a Third World shantytown."
"I think they are doing the right thing to try and get these people removed, but it's going to be a long process," he told the BBC.
____
Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless
BELGRADE, Serbia ? A liberal party in Serbia demanded the expulsion of the Russian ambassador Sunday after he appeared at a nationalist gathering.
Ambassador Aleksandr Konuzin has been meddling in Serbia's internal politics and should be declared persona non grata, the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, or LSV, said in a statement.
Konuzin on Saturday attended an anniversary meeting of the opposition nationalist Serbian Progressive Party. Serbian media quoted Konuzin as saying that the party "has become a true reflection of the popular mood" in Serbia.
The liberals say such statements amount to open support for the nationalists ahead of next year's elections, which will pit the ruling pro-Western reformists against the nationalists.
The LSV party statement said "the ambassador of the Russian Federation in Serbia has definitely shown ... that the Russian Federation has been meddling in Serbia's internal affairs on an unbearable scale."
Serbia's deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said he was sure that "Russia wouldn't like see the same behavior of foreign ambassadors" on its turf.
There was no immediate reaction from the Russian embassy in Belgrade. No one was available for comment at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow.
Another pro-Western party, the Social Democratic Union, also described Konuzin's comments as "the latest in a series of incidents," and "open abuse of hospitality."
Konuzin has clashed in the past with Serbia's liberals, who have accused him of non-diplomatic behavior.
He recently stormed out of a security forum in Belgrade, accusing its participants of not doing enough to defend Serbia's claim to the breakaway province of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008.
Russia is Serbia's traditional Orthodox Christian ally and has backed the country in its opposition to Kosovo independence.
Serbia's nationalists have advocated stronger ties with Russia and the abolition of the EU bid because of Western support for Kosovo's statehood.
WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama says the history of the U.S. Italian-American community offers lessons on how to regard the struggles of today's immigrants.
Obama praised the contribution of Italian Americans in the United States.
But he reminded the gathering Saturday of more than 2,000 Italian Americans that Italians weren't always welcome in the U.S.
The president said those who now feel comfortable in their American identity should remember that when thinking about today's immigrants.
Obama was speaking at the National Italian American Foundation Gala, an annual event that attracts some of the nation's top political and entertainment luminaries of Italian descent.
He joked he wasn't lucky enough to have Italian ancestry. "So all I've got to offer is a last name that ends in a vowel," he said.
BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) ? Coinstar's third-quarter earnings nearly doubled as its Redbox kiosks for renting DVDs attracted movie lovers irked by recent price increases at Netflix's video subscription service.
But the results released Thursday contained some more unwelcome news for consumers.
Redbox is raising its prices for renting a standard DVD by 20 percent beginning next week. The new price will be $1.20 per day effective Monday, instead of the current $1 daily rate.
That's not as much a shock as the prices increase of as much as 60 percent Netflix imposed on its subscribers last month.
Coinstar Inc. earned $37 million, or $1.18 per share, in the three months ending in September. That compared to $19.5 million, or 60 cents per share, at the same time last year.
Metal prices ended the week sharply higher Friday on hopes that a new financial bailout plan in Europe will lead to an increase in global economic growth.
Copper for December delivery gained 1.4 cents Friday to settle at $3.706 a pound.
Copper is up 15.2 percent for week. Platinum is up 9 percent and palladium is up 7 percent for the week.
The rally began after European officials announced early Thursday that they agreed to a broad framework to shore up banks and heavily indebted nations there such as Greece. While many details of the plan have yet to be finalized, markets have jumped on news of the agreement. Many traders were worried that European leaders wouldn't be able to agree on a deal.
Traders think the European bailout will help contain that region's financial woes. If the plan works, it might boost economic growth and increase demand for raw materials. Industrial metals like copper, palladium and platinum are used to make everything from iPods to automobiles.
December palladium fell $1.55 Friday to close at $668.35 an ounce. January platinum gained $10.40 to finish at $1,651.80 an ounce.
Precious metal prices also rose. Traders are buying more gold and silver because they think the European bailout could increase inflation by pumping more money into the global economy. Gold and silver are seen as a good investment when currency values fall.
Gold for December delivery fell 50 cents to settle at $1,747.20 an ounce. December silver was up 17.6 cents to close at $35.288 an ounce. That left gold up nearly 7 percent for the week, and silver up almost 13 percent.
Crop prices were mixed and did not rally as much as metals did during the week. Crop prices did end the week higher because economic growth generally boosts demand for grain and crop-based fuels like ethanol.
December wheat rose 0.5 cents to finish at $6.445 per bushel. Wheat is up 2.4 percent for the week.
December corn rose 3.5 cents to end at $6.55 per bushel. Corn rose nearly 1 percent for the week. November soybeans fell 18 cents to finish at $12.26 a bushel. Soybeans gained 1.1 percent in the week.
Oil prices fell. Benchmark oil lost 64 cents to end at $93.32 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Heating oil fell 3.73 cents to finish at $3.0664 per gallon, gasoline futures dropped 6.11 cents to close at $2.6461 per gallon and natural gas gained 14.6 cents to close at $4.042 per 1,000 cubic feet.
ROME (Reuters) ? Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in serious political trouble at home, is expected to give a European summit on Wednesday only vague promises of economic reform instead of the concrete undertakings demanded by European leaders.
Berlusconi has been caught between a tough ultimatum by euro zone leaders and the adamant refusal of his Northern League partners in a center-right coalition to make more than slight concessions on pensions -- a key plank of the reform program.
Both Northern League leader Umberto Bossi and analysts said it was unclear whether the Italian promises would be enough to pacify euro zone leaders or markets, but Berlusconi's political position is so weak he has little room for maneuver.
The 75-year-old premier, badly weakened by a string of sex scandals, corruption charges and political setbacks, made no comment to reporters as he arrived for the summit.
Initial market reaction to a minimalist reform deal with Bossi was not encouraging, with Italy paying the highest yield in more than three years on six-month BOT bills at an auction on Wednesday.
Political tensions over the reform program broke into the open in Italy's parliament where opposition and government deputies exchanged blows on Wednesday and the sitting was suspended.
President Giorgio Napolitano, and incoming European Central Bank governor Mario Draghi, warned that Berlusconi's promises must be followed by resolve to take painful measures that will dig Italy out of a deepening economic crisis by cutting massive public debt and boosting stagnant growth.
The head of Italy's biggest retail bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, said he was disappointed by the sketchy agreement reached between Berlusconi and Bossi in late-night talks on Tuesday, which provided for only a slight acceleration in increasing the retirement age from 65 to 67.
"In the situation we are in, I expected an economic program that would be agreed by everyone and not just unconfirmed suggestions to take to Europe. I am disappointed," Corrado Passera told reporters at the margins of a conference.
Bossi refused point blank to sanction a more significant reform abolishing a system under which workers can retire early if they have paid 40 years of pension contributions.
LETTER ARRIVES
An Italian diplomatic source told Reuters a "letter of intent" by Berlusconi had arrived in Brussels and the summit's final communique would specifically mention Italy.
The letter outlines Italy's plan for reforms demanded by the EU as a condition for ECB buying of its bonds -- vital to avoid being overwhelmed by repayments on its massive debt.
The 14-page letter is said to contain little detail on growth-boosting measures but promises to balance the budget by 2013 and lists previously agreed reforms.
Incoming ECB chief Mario Draghi said ideas outlined in Berlusconi's letter must be implemented rapidly. Draghi, who is leaving Italy's central bank to take up the new role, said the situation in Italy was "confused and dramatic."
Napolitano, who has regularly worked closely with Draghi to try to stave off economic disaster in Italy, said in a speech in Belgium that anybody who wanted to govern the country must grasp the nettle of unpopular economic reforms.
"We can no longer dither over the categoric imperative of making a consistent and constant effort to lower our debt," he said.
The euro zone's number three economy is at the center of the debt crisis. It needs to issue over 600 billion euros in bonds in the next three years to refinance maturing debt.
Berlusconi's office denied he had made a secret agreement with Bossi to resign at the end of the year but the League leader said he was pessimistic about the coalition's survival.
Analysts say Berlusconi is unlikely to last beyond December or January and elections are expected next spring, a year ahead of schedule.
Berlusconi has until now repeatedly said he expected to serve out his term until 2013. But reports are circulating that, caught between demands for action on the economy and the obstinacy of the League, he may throw in the towel sooner.
Analysts say neither the League -- where Bossi's leadership is also under threat from within -- nor Berlusconi's PDL party wants a government crisis before the end of the year because that might tempt Napolitano to appoint a stop-gap government of technocrats to pass urgent reforms.
A delay would enable the center right to keep control of the way the crisis plays out ahead of elections in the spring.
The center-left opposition is also in disarray and is thought to be reluctant to take responsibility at this point for highly unpopular austerity reforms.
Italy has a public debt of 1.9 trillion euros, equal to 120 percent of GDP, second only to Greece in the euro zone.
The impatience of euro zone leaders at Berlusconi's repeated procrastination is sharpened by fears that a major debt crisis in Italy -- much bigger than Greece and too big to bail out -- would threaten the entire European project.
Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti has promised a package of reforms that would open up closed professions, cut red tape and raise revenue through steps such as privatizations and a new wealth tax, but the measures have been repeatedly delayed.
(Additional reporting by James Mackenzie and Alberto Sisto, Giuseppe Fonte, Stefano Bernabei and Giselda Vagnoni; Editing by Jon Boyle)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The Obama administration is willing to work with Congress on a bill to address China currency and trade concerns but believes some provisions of pending legislation would violate international trade rules, a top U.S. Treasury official said on Tuesday.
"Aspects of pending legislation ... do raise concerns about consistency with our international obligations and we are discussing these issues with members," U.S. Treasury Under Secretary Lael Brainard told the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee.
The Obama administration believes any bill passed by Congress should meet the test of being "effective and consistent with our international obligations, and we are very willing to work with members of Congress on that front," Brainard said.
She declined to discuss what specific provisions of a bill passed by the Senate and another pending in the House of Representatives might violate World Trade Organization because of the prospect that the United States might ultimately have to defend the legislation against a challenge from China.
(Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Sandra Maler)
ScienceDaily (Oct. 26, 2011) ? Individuals who practice religion and spirituality report better physical and mental health than those who do not. To better understand this relationship and how spirituality/religion can be used for coping with significant health issues, University of Missouri researchers are examining what aspects of religion are most beneficial and for what populations. Now, MU health psychology researchers have found that religious and spiritual support improves health outcomes for both men and women who face chronic health conditions.
"Our findings reinforce the idea that religion/spirituality may help buffer the negative consequences of chronic health conditions," said Stephanie Reid-Arndt, associate professor of health psychology in the School of Health Professions. "We know that there are many ways of coping with stressful life situations, such as a chronic illness; involvement in religious/spiritual activities can be an effective coping strategy."
Religious and spiritual support includes care from congregations, spiritual interventions, such as religious counseling and forgiveness practices, and assistance from pastors and hospital chaplains. The recent publication from the MU Center for Religion and the Professions research group, authored by Reid-Arndt, found that religious support is associated with better mental health outcomes for women and with better physical and mental health for men.
"Both genders benefit from social support -- the ability to seek help from and rely on others -- provided by fellow congregants and involvement in religious organizations," said co-author Brick Johnstone, health psychology professor. "Encouragement to seek out religious and spiritual supports can assist individuals in coping with stress and physical symptoms related to health issues. Health care providers can urge patients to take advantage of these resources, which provide emotional care, financial assistance and opportunities for increased socialization."
The study examined the role of gender in using spirituality/religiosity to cope with chronic health conditions and disabilities, including spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke and cancer. Using measures of religiousness/spirituality, general mental health and general health perception, the researchers found no differences between men and women in terms of self-reported levels of spiritual experiences, religious practices or congregational support. This finding contrasts with other studies that suggest women may be more spiritual or participate in religion more frequently than men.
"While women generally are more religious or spiritual than men, we found that both genders may increase their reliance on spiritual and religious resources as they face increased illness or disability," Johnstone said.
For women, mental health is associated with daily spiritual experiences, forgiveness and religious/spiritual coping, the study found. This suggests that belief in a loving, supportive and forgiving higher power is related with positive mental coping for women with chronic conditions. For men, religious support -- the perception of help, support and comfort from local congregations -- was associated with better self-rated health.
Johnstone is director of the MU Spirituality and Health Research program. He has completed several studies examining the relationships that exist among religion, spirituality and health, particularly for individuals with different chronic disabling conditions and for those from different faith traditions.
The study was published in the Journal of Religion, Disability & Health. It was funded by the Center on Religion and the Professions at MU, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
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Journal Reference:
Stephanie Reid-Arndt, Marian Smith, Dong Pil Yoon, Brick Johnstone. Gender Differences in Spiritual Experiences, Religious Practices, and Congregational Support for Individuals with Significant Health Conditions. Journal of Religion, Disability & Health, 2011; 15 (2): 175 DOI: 10.1080/15228967.2011.566792
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stock index futures rose on Wednesday after the S&P fell 2 percent in the previous session as optimism about corporate earnings offset concerns about the results of a meeting of European leaders to tackle the region's debt crisis.
* Prospects for a comprehensive deal to resolve the crisis at a summit on Wednesday looked dim, with deep disagreements remaining on critical aspects, including how to give the region's bailout fund greater firepower.
* Ford Motor Co (F.N) reported lower third-quarter earnings but beat estimates. The stock fell 2.1 percent at $12.17 in premarket trade.
* Boeing Co (BA.N) reported a larger quarterly profit early Wednesday. Also, Boeing's long-delayed 787 Dreamliner takes its first paying passengers later in the day.
* Also, WellPoint Inc (WLP.N) recorded a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, while Nasdaq OMX Group Inc (NDAQ.O) said its quarterly profit rose 20 percent from a year ago.
* Other companies due to report include Visa Inc (V.N) and ConocoPhillips (COP.N).
* S&P 500 futures rose 7 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 78 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 13.25 points.
* The Commerce Department releases September durable goods orders data at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Economists expect a 0.9 percent drop in durable goods orders, compared with a 0.1 percent decrease in August.
* The Commerce Department releases new home sales for September at 10 a.m. EDT. Economists forecast a total of 300,000 annualized units, compared with 295,000 units in August.
* Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) issued a far weaker-than-expected outlook for the crucial holiday season quarter as it spent heavily on its new Kindle Fire tablet computer. The stock fell 12 percent to $199.79 in premarket trade after tumbling 18 percent in extended trading.
* European shares edged higher in thin, choppy trade on Wednesday ahead of the meeting of regional leaders.
(Reporting by Angela Moon; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
For decades computer scientists have strived to build machines that can calculate faster than the human brain and store more information. The contraptions have won. The world?s most powerful supercomputer, the K from Fujitsu, computes four times faster and holds 10 times as much data. And of course, many more bits are coursing through the Internet at any moment. Yet the Internet?s servers worldwide would fill a small city, and the K sucks up enough electricity to power 10,000 homes. The incredibly efficient brain consumes less juice than a dim lightbulb and fits nicely inside our head. Biology does a lot with a little: the human genome, which grows our body and directs us through years of complex life, requires less data than a laptop operating system. Even a cat?s brain smokes the newest iPad?1,000 times more data storage and a million times quicker to act on it.?
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Despite President Barack Obama?s sagging poll ratings, top Democratic leaders from around the country insist they?d love for him to visit. From state party chairmen to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the message remains remarkably consistent: No one views the president as a political liability.
Roughly a year out from the 2012 presidential election, that may be true. But already, as Obama?s most recent forays into battleground states indicate, there are growing signs that many Democratic politicians don?t want to get too close to him either.
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Hohmann on absent Democrats
In trips to Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania ? all states that he carried in 2008 ? members of Congress were notably missing from the president?s side. Though none came out and said they were deliberately avoiding him, they didn?t have to: Dodging a presidential candidate who?s riding low in the polls is a time-honored political practice.
The last three elections ? the Sept. 13 House special elections in New York and Nevada and the Oct. 4 West Virginia special governor?s election ? haven?t done much to inspire confidence about Obama?s ability to help the entire ticket: the president was unquestionably an anchor on the Democratic nominees in each race.
For Obama, who?s led a charmed political life since bursting onto the national stage in 2004 ? he was in high demand on the campaign trail even before he won his Senate seat that year ? it?s a harbinger of a humbling election year to come.
In North Carolina, only Sen. Kay Hagan, who isn?t up for reelection until 2014, and veteran Rep. Mel Watt, who represents a majority black seat, appeared with the president. The state?s other six Democratic House members took a pass, offering a variety of excuses.
?[Obama] may end up being Walter Mondale of 1984,? said Raleigh-based Democratic strategist Brad Crone, recalling how the only elected official who risked being seen with the party?s nominee that year was the longtime agriculture commissioner.
In Pennsylvania, where Obama visited Pittsburgh two weeks,the story was much the same ? no members of Congress to be found. Though two of southwestern Pennsylvania?s three Democratic congressmen greeted the president on the airport tarmac, neither of them attended any of the public events Obama held, choosing instead to return to Washington.
?Southwest Pennsylvania has become over time a difficult place for Democrats because of the perception they are left of center,? said T.J. Rooney, a former Pennsylvania Democratic Party chairman and state legislator.
Some Democrats believe that attempts to keep a distance from the president can only backfire. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell called it ?political idiocy? for Democrats to purposefully avoid a president from their own party.
MITROVICA, Kosovo ? NATO-led peacekeepers tried to remove roadblocks in northern Kosovo on Saturday, but were prevented by Serbs guarding the blockade that has paralyzed travel in the tense region.
The troops in full riot gear tried overnight to push through three of the 16 roadblocks formed from vehicles, rocks, mud and logs. But they were met by hundreds of Serbs who sat on the roads to stop the advance.
No force was used and no injuries were reported during the tense six-hour standoff.
Kosovo Serbs have been blocking roads to stop the country's ethnic Albanian leadership from extending its control over the part of the country populated mostly by ethnic Serbs.
Serbs reject Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence and consider the region a part of neighboring Serbia. They say the peacekeepers are biased against them.
The NATO-led troops say they want to establish freedom of movement for all citizens and ensure supply of their troops stationed in Kosovo.
In July, ethnic Albanian authorities deployed their security forces to two border posts in northern Kosovo to enforce a trade ban with Serbia. Serbs reacted by blocking roads and triggering clashes with Kosovo police that left one police officer dead.
Kosovo Serb leaders say they are willing to negotiate free passage for the 5,500-strong peacekeeping force ? known as KFOR ? but only if it doesn't transport Kosovo officials.
"As long as KFOR tries to deploy Kosovo authorities in the north of Kosovo by force, freedom of movement is impossible," said Kosovo Serb official Slavisa Ristic.
On Friday, the commander of NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo Maj. Gen. Erhard Drews again told Serbs to remove their roadblocks, warning that otherwise force would have to be used.
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Associated Press writer Dusan Stojanovic contributed from Belgrade.
The new Libyan government has confirmed that Muammar el-Qaddafi, the former dictator of Libya, has been killed after his hometown of Surt was taken. Here's a look back at the search and pursuit of Qaddafi, and some of the more extreme tools that have seen action in Libya since February. More »
DALLAS ? Southwest Airlines Co. suffered its first losing quarter in two years because its fuel-hedging bets turned sour when oil prices fell this summer.
But its fares rose and planes were packed. That helped the company's airline business make money in the third quarter
Southwest's results suggest that air travel is holding up despite nervousness that consumers and companies will cut back because of the weak economy.
The discount airline, which flies more U.S. passengers than anyone, said Thursday that bookings, including business travel, have remained strong into October. It predicted that revenue per passenger will keep rising in the last three months of the year.
Investors seemed to focus on travel demand and shrug off the hedging losses. The company's stock price rose 23 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $8.94 in morning trading.
Southwest reported a third-quarter loss of $140 million, or 18 cents per share, compared with a profit of $205 million, or 27 cents per share, a year earlier.
The loss included $262 million in special items, including costs related to the purchase of AirTran Airways but mostly tied to fuel hedges that fell in value. Southwest's last losing quarter, in 2009, was also marked by fuel-hedging setbacks. Hedging is like insurance against a spike in oil prices; airlines use it to smooth out volatile energy prices.
Airlines must recalculate their hedges every quarter, and Southwest's lost value when crude prices fell by about one-sixth during the period. Southwest didn't lose cash, but must report the lower value on its books. With oil swinging up in recent weeks, Southwest said its hedges have regained some of the lost value.
Excluding those items, Southwest would have earned $122 million, or 15 cents per share ? a penny better than analysts expected.
With the addition of AirTran, which Southwest bought in May, revenue rose 35 percent to $4.31 billion, beating the $4.17 billion forecast among analysts surveyed by FactSet. Southwest boosted the average fare 7.4 percent, to $142.31, and still packed more people into its planes.
The performance beat that of American Airlines parent AMR Corp., which lost $162 million in the third quarter ? its fourth straight loss and 14th in the last 16 quarters.
United Continental Holdings Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. are scheduled to report results next week.
Even with hedging, Southwest spent $1.59 billion on fuel, a 71 percent jump from a year earlier. The addition of AirTran inflated the figure, but the airline also paid more at the pump ? $3.23 a gallon, up from $2.47 a year ago.
Southwest said fourth-quarter costs for each mile it flies will rise slightly in the fourth quarter. That forecast doesn't include fuel.
Southwest gave a relatively upbeat view about current travel demand.
Travel usually drops off during the fall and winter months, But the key for the airline industry is whether that decline will be worse than usual this year because of the stubbornly weak economy.
Southwest indicated that those fears might not come true. Based on October sales and booking, the company said it expects "solid" growth in revenue for each mile that passengers fly in the fourth quarter. That number is a closely watched measurement of demand in the airline industry.
Yet, Southwest also launched a broad and deep airfare sale this week. That indicates it has more empty seats than it would like during the dead weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and after the New Year's holiday.
AirTran Airways joined in the sale. Southwest completed the $1 billion purchase of AirTran in May and gained a valuable foothold in Atlanta.
Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said Thursday that the company has already saved $60 million in annual costs by renegotiating AirTran contracts and cutting overhead and expects to eventually save $400 million a year. But Southwest has run into unexpected roadblocks in merging the two carriers, including opposition among union leaders at AirTran to a plan for combining pilot workforces.
Pilots at both airlines are now voting on a new plan for combining the groups. Southwest has raised the possibility of operating AirTran separately if the deal is voted down.
___
Follow David Koenig at http://www.twitter.com/airlinewriter
As we explained yesterday, now that the Ice Cream Sandwich SDK has been released, we're about to see a deluge of SDK-based ROM ports. We're not going to cover them all here, but will will cover the first to come out of the Android Central Forums. Beezy's been hard at work, and you'll soon be able to enjoy the fruits of his SDK labor on the Nexus S 4G. Things are very much still a work in progress, but you'll soon be able to be the first on your block to say you have some form of ICS on your phone.
GENEVA (Reuters) ? The United Nations voiced concern on Tuesday that some of the Palestinian detainees released in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit may have not have been given a choice on where to go and said this could constitute an illegal forced transfer.
The office of Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, welcomed Tuesday's release but cited reports that some of the Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank may be freed only to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip or abroad.
Under international humanitarian law, it is illegal to forcibly transfer war detainees or deport them to another country against their will.
Shalit returned home to a national outpouring of joy in Israel on Tuesday after five years in captivity, and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners exchanged for him were greeted with kisses from Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip.
"It was with a sense of great relief that we have received news of the agreement to exchange prisoners. We do however have concerns regarding reports that hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank may be released to the Gaza Strip or abroad," Pillay's spokesman Rupert Colville told Reuters in response to a query.
"If in some cases this has been without the free and informed consent of the concerned individuals, this may constitute forced transfer or deportation under international law," he added. "We are not sure to what extent they consented to this."
Most of the prisoners were returned to Gaza, an Israeli-blockaded Palestinian enclave controlled by Hamas, an Islamist group that is classified as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States.
It was not immediately clear whether some of those moved to Gaza were loyal to Fatah, a rival Palestinian faction ruling the West Bank and led by President Mahmoud Abbas.
Many of the prisoners were convicted of deadly attacks.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that 10 Palestinians would come to Turkey as part of the swap and that a Turkish plane was en route to Cairo to collect the group. Some 40 Palestinians were being sent to Turkey, Syria and Qatar.
CONFIDENTIAL INTERVIEWS
Over the past few days, the International Committee of the Red Cross conducted confidential interviews with all 477 Palestinians being released from Israeli detention centers in this first phase of the swap, an ICRC spokesman said.
"ICRC delegates interviewed each detainee in private prior to his or her release to verify that they accepted their release," ICRC spokesman Marcal Izard told Reuters in Geneva.
But, speaking in what he said were general terms, he added: "Returning people to places other than their habitual places of residence is in contradiction to international humanitarian law.
"Choosing between staying in detention or being released to a place other than the detainee's habitual place of residence cannot be considered as a genuine expression of free will."
Once the detainees were released by Israel, the independent humanitarian agency facilitated their transport on ICRC buses --
from Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing into the Gaza Strip via Egypt, and into Ramallah in the West Bank, he said.
"We did the transportation for humanitarian purposes," he said. "The ICRC role was limited to facilitating the movement of all the detainees."
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday that he expected the Israeli-Palestinian prisoner exchange to boost prospects for the wider peace process.
"I sincerely hope that with this release, it will have a far-reaching positive impact (on) the stalled Middle East peace process," Ban told Reuters in Geneva.
"I am very encouraged by the prisoner exchange today after many many years of negotiation. The United Nations has been calling for (an end to) the unacceptable detention of Gilad Shalit and also the release of all Palestinians whose human rights have been abused all the time."
Colville said that the U.N. human rights office had "continuing concerns about the thousands of Palestinians still detained or imprisoned by Israel."
It urged Israel to comply fully with its international legal obligations, "including with respect to their conditions and treatment during detention and the location of their imprisonment."
Shalit's parents Noam and Aviva made several trips to Geneva where they held talks with Pillay and senior ICRC officials to rally support for their son's release.
The ICRC said in a statement that although it welcomed the release, it regretted that its repeated requests to visit Shalit in detention and hand over family messages had been "uniformly rejected" over the five years of his imprisonment.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, Amena Bakr and Vincent Fribault; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
LONDON ? Skepticism over Europe's ability to deliver a comprehensive solution to its debt troubles weighed on market sentiment Tuesday, as did a warning from Moody's that it could soon review France's cherished triple-A credit rating for possible downgrade.
Over the past two weeks, stocks have recovered a large chunk of their losses for the year, while the euro and oil prices have surged as investors priced in the likelihood of a big European response to the debt crisis that has seen three countries bailed out and pushed Greece to the bring of default.
The expectation was that the 17 countries that use the euro, led by Germany and France, were preparing a three-pronged solution to the debt crisis. That would include measures to boost the firepower of the bailout fund, a recapitalization of a large part of the banking sector and a plan to get the banks to take a bigger hit on their Greek debt holdings.
However, hopes for such a plan were lowered on Monday when German officials, including the finance minister, cautioned investors against believing that Sunday's summit of eurozone leaders in Brussels would mark a definitive turning point in the crisis.
Coupled with a warning from Moody's that France may be put on notice for a possible credit rating downgrade after a three-month assessment, sentiment continued to sour on Tuesday.
"The positive momentum behind risk at the end of last week has faded as the realities in front of the EU counterbalanced the prior hope for a resolution to the region's difficulties," said David Watt, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets.
In Europe, France's CAC-40 index was 1.4 percent lower at 3,121, underperforming its main counterparts. Germany's DAX was only 0.2 percent lower at 5,845 while the Britain's FTSE 100 index was 0.9 percent lower at 5,387.
Wall Street was poised for modest losses at the open, too ? Dow futures were down 0.2 percent 11,284 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell 0.1 percent to 1,192.
Investors will also monitor the next batch of U.S. corporate earnings. So far, they've been mixed. Among companies reporting quarterly financial results are Apple Inc., Bank of America Corp., Coca-Cola Co., Johnson & Johnson and Yahoo Inc.
Alongside the softer tone in stock markets, the euro fell as well, trading 0.4 percent lower at $1.3677. When investors are willing to take on more risk the euro usually rises, as it has in the previous two weeks.
Oil prices likewise dropped, with the benchmark rate for November delivery down 39 cents at $85.99 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
News that China is growing at its slowest rate in two years added to the unease in markets in the run-up to Sunday's meeting.
Though Chinese growth was running at a still strong rate of 9.1 percent in the three months through September, the slowdown comes at a time when other key pillars of the global economy, such as Europe and the U.S. have seen their growth rates slow down sharply as well.
"Given the European Union as a whole is China's largest trading partner, investors are justifiably questioning the ability of Europe to register enough growth to help alleviate its current debt crisis," said Geoffrey Yu, an analyst at UBS. "The soft data added to market woes initiated yesterday."
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 2.3 percent to 2,383.49 while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index lost 2.9 percent at 1,010.46.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 1.6 percent to close at 8,741.91. Hong Kong's Hang Seng plunged 4.2 percent to 18,076.46. South Korea's Kospi fell 1.4 percent to 1,838.90. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines were also lower.
____
Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.
(Reuters) ? Halliburton Co (HAL.N), the world's second-largest oilfield services company, posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as more drillers tapped its expertise in extracting gas from U.S. shale rock.
Despite low natural gas prices, demand for shale energy continues to grow across the United States amid calls for energy independence and a push for cheap supply from the chemical and transportation sectors.
Halliburton shares fell 0.7 percent in premarket trading. Dahlman Rose & Co analyst James Crandell said the strong earnings likely will have "neutral implications" for the shares Monday.
Third-quarter net profit climbed to $683 million, or 74 cents per share, from $544 million, or 60 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items, Halliburton earned 94 cents per share, topping analysts' average estimate of 92 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue rose 40 percent to $6.55 billion. Analysts had expected $6.39 billion.
Producers are plowing billions of dollars into developing U.S. oil shale fields, tightening the market for equipment and allowing the services companies to maintain higher prices.
Many analysts expect the North American shale boom to last at least through 2012, even with the weak American economy.
"Despite short-term macroeconomic concerns, I continue to believe in the long-term prospects for our business," Halliburton Chief Executive Dave Lesar said in a statement.
The company said delays in operations in Iraq and an operational shutdown in Libya during the third quarter hurt results.
Halliburton said profit from operations outside the United States "recovered at the rate we expected" during the quarter.
Three rigs did start operating in Iraq toward the end of the quarter, however. And in Libya, where rebels have ousted ruler Muammar Gaddafi, the company is assessing whether to reopen.
Halliburton has put behind it a major liability attached to former unit KBR Inc (KBR.N), which just settled a five-year dispute over failed bolts on subsea oilfield flow lines off Brazil for $200 million.
Shares of Houston-based Halliburton fell 0.7 percent to $27.48 in premarket trading. The stock has dropped 8.3 percent this year.
(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder in New York; additional reporting by Braden Reddall in San Francisco; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Gerald E. McCormick and John Wallace)
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